Controversial Books

This page shows your 100 most controversial books, as measured by the standard deviation of members star ratings. (This is also the source of the Zeitgeist category "25 Books People Can't Agree on.") To be included, a book must have been rated at least 20 times. Work titles are given.

Standard Deviation	Rating	Title
1.146	3.94	Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
1.107	3.67	The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
1.103	3.64	Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
1.102	3.71	The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence by Deepak Chopra
1.101	3.94	The Visitant by Kathleen O'Neal Gear
1.094	3.71	One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
1.085	3.67	Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
1.07	3.43	Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins
1.067	4.01	Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness by Joshua Wolf Shenk
1.054	3.69	Born Blue by Han Nolan
1.051	3.28	The Cat Who Went Up the Creek by Lilian Jackson Braun
1.049	3.63	Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
1.049	3.19	Death Dance by Linda Fairstein
1.047	3.67	The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
1.036	3.92	Ordinary Wolves: A Novel by Seth Kantner
1.035	4.04	Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
1.032	3.75	The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
1.026	3.73	House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
1.025	3.32	The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy by Robert Leleux
1.021	3.54	Ghost Walk by Heather Graham
1.019	3.98	Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
1.019	3.71	The Eagle Catcher by Margaret Coel
1.011	3.63	The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
1.009	3.98	The Speckled Monster by Jennifer Lee Carrell
0.995	3.47	The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
0.994	3.22	The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin
0.984	3.67	The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
0.982	3.55	The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston
0.974	3.97	Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind
0.966	3.63	The Dork of Cork by Chet Raymo
0.965	3.42	The Grand Complication by Allen Kurzweil
0.964	3.61	Partner in Crime by J. A. Jance
0.963	3.3	Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton
0.962	3.94	Life of Pi by Yann Martel
0.961	3.94	Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
0.959	3.35	A Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris
0.957	3.76	My Heartbeat by Garret Freymann-Weyr
0.956	3.52	Bee Season by Myla Goldberg
0.952	3.63	On the Far Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
0.95	3.71	The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket
0.95	3.59	Beethoven's Hair: An Extraordinary Historical Odyssey and a Scientific Mystery Solved by Russell Martin
0.948	3.76	Catch Me If You Can by Stan Redding
0.947	3.97	An Hour Before Daylight: Memories of a Rural Boyhood by Jimmy Carter
0.946	3.71	Name All the Animals: A Memoir by Alison Smith
0.945	3.79	Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
0.944	3.72	The Wheel of Darkness by Douglas Preston
0.943	3.26	Stupid White Men : ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation! by Michael Moore
0.942	3.98	Envy by Sandra Brown
0.942	3.86	Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina
0.942	3.92	The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
0.938	3.63	The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
0.938	4.01	Time and Again by Jack Finney
0.937	3.76	Affinity by Sarah Waters
0.935	3.83	Princess: A true story of live behind the veil in Saudi Arabia by Jean P. Sasson
0.935	3.67	The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
0.934	3.74	Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
0.933	4.05	The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression by Andrew Solomon
0.933	3.47	Crewel World by Monica Ferris
0.93	3.55	The Murders of Richard III by Elizabeth Peters
0.928	3.69	The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
0.928	3.97	The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston
0.917	3.66	Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
0.915	3.78	You Are Not a Stranger Here: Stories by Adam Haslett
0.911	3.82	The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket
0.91	3.7	Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
0.905	3.79	The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
0.904	3.93	The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters
0.902	3.55	Love for Sale by Jill Churchill
0.902	4.13	Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
0.902	3.82	Heaven's Prisoners by James Lee Burke
0.901	3.8	Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 by Simon Winchester
0.901	3.79	An Unfinished Life by Mark Spragg
0.9	3.62	The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine by Benjamin Wallace
0.9	3.98	James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
0.899	4.02	The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
0.898	3.56	Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanne Fluke
0.898	4.01	The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery
0.896	3.44	Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton
0.895	3.87	A Stained White Radiance by James Lee Burke
0.894	3.64	Of Sound Mind by Jean Ferris
0.893	3.79	The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket
0.893	3.97	The Golden One by Elizabeth Peters
0.892	3.55	Plato and a Platypus Walk into a Bar . . .: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes by Thomas Cathcart
0.892	3.89	Relic by Douglas Preston
0.889	3.86	The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
0.888	3.44	Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry
0.887	3.64	Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
0.887	3.39	Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet
0.886	3.74	Nun in the Closet by Dorothy Gilman
0.885	3.83	The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket
0.883	3.79	The Queen's Man by Sharon Kay Penman
0.883	3.83	Brimstone by Douglas Preston
0.882	4.05	Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
0.881	3.46	The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black
0.881	4.14	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
0.88	4.18	Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
0.88	3.83	Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt
0.88	3.85	The Rag and Bone Shop (Readers Circle) by Robert Cormier
0.879	3.59	Blueberry Muffin Murder by Joanne Fluke
0.879	3.54	Key Lime Pie Murder by Joanne Fluke

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